Snow Sweeper Time

[bill937ca]

Winter is coming and its time to get the snow sweepers ready.  Only snow sweepers can clean right down to the rail and flangeway.  This is Sapporo and its single truck sweepers which use bamboo brushes (rather than rattan that was used in the US and Canada). Here's a few videos I just added to my Japanese tram blog. The operation at the carbarn ladder tracks looks like good winter fun!

 

 

 

[KenS]

What s cool-looking vehicle!  Double-ended to work either direction (and apparently symmetic in design).  I've never seen anything with a "whole body" high-visibility stripe paint job before, but given the size of the vehicle and that it's for use in street trackage, it makes sense.

[cteno4]

ooh nice bill. these looks like something fun to kitbash using a prohobby 2 axle mechanism and maybe the ends of a tomytec rail car. only heachache would be trying to do that tiger striped paint job! guess you could try to carefully measure out the strips at the top and bottom and then use pin tape to try and mask it off. would not be easy though over those front noses! brushes could probably be made from pipe cleaners trimmed up. he throw in a reduction gear or two of the motor main worm gear and a small belt and make the brush spin!

 

now that i say this hopefully prohobby will go ahead and make a shell for their mechanism for this kind of mow!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

Somebody has already made a model. Don't know who and there are no zebra stripes.

 

 

The Hakodate sweepers might be a bit easier to duplicate.

 

 

Sapporo and Hakodate are the only two Japanese tram systems to have snow sweepers.  Everybody else just waits til it melts....

[cteno4]

Ha! looks almost like a b-train shortie model. using a btrain kato 2 truck mechanism. looks like a solid shel with just black painted windows. they also put the brushes perpindicular to the tracks, not at a 45 degree angle, but others i think have them more like this.

 

the brushes were what i was just thinking of as i know i have see hex or octo ribbed stock like this somewhere before, would be perfect. yellow only would work well.

 

prototype is 2 axle though. prohobby mechanism would work well as its short and very vertical. kato 2 axle btrain may be a tad too long.

 

thanks for the hakodate one, looks like you could get away with a number of different styles of cars. im really intrigued with the idea of making the mechanism work! also a couple of flashing red smd leds on top as well!

 

thanks bill

 

jeff

[cteno4]

Its been driving me crazy, i know i have seen this 8 pointed sort of cross sections the brushes do some place, but cant remember where. i think i even have a piece somewhere as something in the back of my head is saying i had a piece (maybe a swizzle stick or soemthing) and i thought gee thats cool i should hold onto that! almost like plastic gear stock i have seen, but no luck searching that out. would need to be about 4 or 5mm in dia and 8 toothed.

 

was at the craft shop this afternoon for something else and did pick up tan pipe cleaners about the right dimension. dont think it would work for this though as the snow would probably cake up in it. doubt i can trim it down to the 8 brushes like this either. ill play...

 

could try to scratch build with thin chipboard, then come back and slice partway into the three sections...

 

any thoughts, ideas?

 

cheers

 

jeff